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Dual 701 failure????

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tony3d

Active Member
Hi I'm right on the edge of pulling the trigger on a restored 701 from bill at fix my dual. Great guy by the way. I just can't seem to get out of my mind the complexity of the drive system. That electrolytic cap on the motor board really worries me. My question is has anyone's 701 failed since being restored either by bill or anyone else. If so, what failed, and how was it remedied?
 
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I've got the 721 with what likely is a similar motor driver board, so far no e-cap failures, but ultimately I do intend to replace the electrolytics...it's on my infamous list of projects to do, somewhere around Item #897 I believe....

On my 721 it appears there are 3 electrolytics: the silver axial, the red radial, and the blue radial. A minor PITA but not too bad it appears as you can see from the pic.
 

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After a year and a half of daily use my 701 that I purchased from Bill is still going strong. Go with one Bill's 1229s if you're worried about the 701.
 
About the only decent semi automatic turntable I can find that's worth anything brand new is the Denon 300f. Will it accept a Shure V15 type 3. Seems like it has a nice arm.
 
tony3d said:
Hi I'm right on the edge of pulling the trigger on a restored 701 from bill at fix my dual. Great guy by the way. I just can't seem to get out of my mind the complexity of the drive system. That electrolytic cap on the motor board really worries me. My question is has anyone's 701 failed since being restored either by bill or anyone else. If so, what failed, and how was it remedied?
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Sounds like you are fretting and festering. Don't. Deal with tomorrow's problem tomorrow. Dual turntables are pretty robust. The only unobtanium part of the circuit is probably the microchip. Protect it with a surge suppressor if you must.

All vintage turntables will have their unique piece of unobtanium....the 1019 and 1229 idler wheels, the pitch belts of the belt driven models etc. I'd suggest that you live for today and enjoy your 701 and stop worrying about the what-if. It lasted 30 years...it will probably last another 30 if you take care of it.

If you took a poll, you would probably find that most people have several vintage turntables that they rotate into their mix so if something goes awry there is something else to rotate in. I have 3 Duals, an AR and an Empire...if you are really worried, you could always pick up a 701 parts unit.
 
I would take any of Bill's Duals over the Dennon 300f. Just my opinion of course. If you have concerns call Bill and he'll give you a honest answer.
 
Either the 1229, 701, 1019 or 1219 would be a great table to own and enjoy. Bill has a great reputation AND he sells parts if you need them.
 
As far as the IC and transistors on the 701: if it's the same as my 721, the IC is a 741 quad opamp, which is about as common as dirt. Easy to find, in other words. And the transistors at first glance appear to be garden-variety BJT's as well.

So should the drive circuit fail, rebuilding it would be quite easy. Probably the only questionable part would be the adjustment of the trim pots, that doesn't appear to be covered in the service manual.
 
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